Static by Ron Martoia

I’ve been reading a book called “Static” lately, by Ron Martoia. I’ll be writing about it more, later when I’ve finished it. But for now I want to share one thought from it, and one story that happened to me today because of it.

The last time my family and I went to Disney, I was struck by the yearning we all have for the real version of the Disney experience. You can read about that here (afterwards!). Today while reading Static I found the scriptural, theological basis for that yearning. According to the author, it is the yearning we all have to return to the Garden…to be restored to the perfect place of fellowship and beauty that we had in the Garden of Eden. And those peak moments of aching beauty and longing in this world? They are “whispers of Eden.” I was so taken with that phrase today, and played it around in my head all day long. Whispers of Eden. Those moments when the South Florida breeze blows cool and the sun is perfect on the back porch, the smell of the grass after the rain, the sound of David Cook singing “Music of the Night” this week — all of these are whispers of Eden. They are the reminders that life here is good, and that it will be restored to the amazing state God originally designed. Whispers of Eden: God’s fingerprints all over my messy life. Wow.

Here’s one quick quote to tide you over until I review the whole book!

Whenever and wherever God reigns, there is a return to the original intention he had for all of creation. That is why in these [scripture] passages we so often see reversals — from desert to streams of water, from thistles (another reference to the curse of the Garden) to myrtle, from blindness to sight, and from lameness to leaping for joy. In short, salvation isn’t an escape from this place to some invisible somewhere out there; it is the transformation of this world as a result of God’s invasion of it.

Now the story of the day. I was reading Static while eating a quick lunch at California Pizza Kitchen today (gotta love that hummus!). When the waiter came to give me my check I turned the book upside down on the table to fish for my credit card. While I was doing so, he leaned over and read the front cover, which says “Tune out the ‘Christian noise’ and experience the real message of Jesus.” This began a conversation that started with the way people often react poorly to “Christian” words like sin or salvation even though they are searching for a real relationship. It turns out that my waiter is a Christ follower with a passionate heart for the world around him. He can’t understand why Christians can ignore many of the hurting people in the world, like the children of Haiti who are starving. I didn’t have any great answers for him, even though of course I could name missionaries to Haiti and agencies that want to work there. I couldn’t answer him because I hadn’t thought all that much about Haiti myself. But we did begin to discuss how God puts different missions on different hearts.

The conversation wasn’t long: just a few minutes of two very unalike people making a connection in the middle of a busy day. Did you notice how the conversation began? By having a book with me with a distinctive dustjacket that caught his eye. Now that’s following my own advice! It makes me wonder what God has up his sleeve for tomorrow…